Matter Company Substance Belly Jelly

May 28, 2014

Cruising into my third trimester, I’ve had many days where I feel like I’m completely stretched to the limit in the torso area. It’s generally on days when I’m feeling bigger than usual (read: bloated) and am looking for anything to make my belly feel better.

I was collecting “staff favourites” last month and one of our store employees said her favourite was Substance Belly Jelly by Matter Company. What she specifically said was “it helps to soothe a stretching belly while pregnant.” And I was all, ‘where do I sign?!’

So I grabbed a tin of Belly Jelly and toted it home with me in my snazzy Snuggle Bugz bag.

First thing to know about the Belly Jelly is that it isn’t for the faint of nose. Whenever I put it on, my husband is immediately like “what is that smell?” and then I back away slowly towards the door. It’s not a bad smell at all; when you’re dealing with something that has lavender as the first ingredient, it’s definitely going to have an aroma!

I started out only using it when I felt stretched, and it somehow, in some way, made my belly feel so. much. better. Well, I *started* using it for this purpose, and now have inserted it into my regular routine of belly creams and comforts.

It’s not a cream though, so it doesn’t soak in like a cream would – think of its texture as more of an ointment. Except it doesn’t start you on fire like ointments do. To be completely honest, the ointment texture is my least favourite part about it, but it helps me feel better and that’s all I care about! Also you get used to it after a while, but if you’re going from using strictly creams to using this, it’s a bit different.Generally I put it on at night after I get out of the shower and then let it soak in a bit before I pull my pj top down over it. I find putting it on at night to be the best because then it can soak in uninterrupted all night long, and also I’m not walking around smelling like lavender all day.

One really cool thing is that it’s made in Toronto from all natural ingredients. Matter Company has a pretty cool (albeit sparsely updated) instagram account that shows their products being made. Here is a photo I stole from @mattercompany on Instagram of the Belly Jelly being mixed before it is poured into tins. Looks good to me!

I don’t know how it does what it does, but now when I’m feeling pushed to the max or having a totally normal day, my tin of Belly Jelly is the first thing I reach for to use on my belly.

A transplant from western Canada, Sarah and her husband now live in Hamilton, Ontario. They are parents to a little guy, born August 2014, and have also acquired two plants to care for. You can follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @ispeakcanadian.